Gore Solicits Public Support as HOPE Act Goes to Congress

Gore Solicits Public Support as HOPE Act Goes to Congress

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Gore Solicits Public Support as HOPE Act Goes to Congress.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Vice President Albert Gore met with a small group of students, parents, faculty and administrators on Thursday, March 21, in the library of Arlington, Virginia's Washington-Lee High School to promote the highlights of President Bill Clinton's Hope and Opportunity for Postsecondary Education (HOPE) Act of 1977. The event was designed to solicit public support for the legislation, which the white house forwarded to congress the same day.

"What you earn depends on what you learn," Gore said of the importance that education plays in the information age. "If you have a good education, you're likely to do well, but if not, you will face difficulties."

"All students in America ought to be thinking about higher education," said Education Secretary Richard Riley, who also addressed the gathering.

One component of the HOPE Act that has raised concern among those who are evaluating it is the B minus, or 2.7, minimum grade point average eligibility requirement for college sophomores seeking the HOPE scholarship tax credit. The Clinton administration claims the credit will benefit 4.2 million students in 1998, but critics worry that it also might encourage grade inflation.

Riley said the team that devised the federal plan took this issue into consideration, but he is optimistic that the federal program will mirror the experiences of the state of Georgia, which has been running a similar scholarship program for the past two years and has not identified any grade inflation problems yet. …